WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY? (HVA VIL FOLK SI) NEXT D: Iram Haq. Norway/Germany/Sweden. 106 min. Sep 9, 2 pm, Winter Garden Sep 11, 4:45 pm, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 Sep 16, 10 am, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4. Rating: NNNN
When high schooler Nisha (Maria Mozhdah) shames her Pakistani family, now living in Norway, her father and brother kidnap her and take her back to Pakistan.
Director Haq doesn’t shy away from the real terror in the story – a sequence in which Misha is caught kissing a boy by Pakistani police is harrowing – but she also appreciates complexity. Nisha’s father (Adil Hussain, who’s riveting) is plainly conflicted by his respect for traditional values and his love for his daughter.
This could be TIFF 2017’s Mustang, a brilliant, nuanced movie about female oppression.